Valtteri Bottas set the pace on day two of pre-season testing in Bahrain, with him managing a best lap time of 1m30.289s on a set of C5s – the softest tyre in Pirelli’s 2021 F1 range – in the closing segment of the afternoon session.
Sir Lewis Hamilton, who will be gunning for a record-breaking eighth title this year, had a spin and beached his Mercedes W12 in the gravel in the morning session.
This left him 15th fastest and marked a continuation of Hamilton’s difficulties getting up to speed in pre-season testing, with him finishing only tenth fastest on Friday.
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Things looked promising for Scuderia AlphaTauri, as Pierre Gasly put in a lap time good enough for P2 on Saturday, just 0.124s adrift of Bottas’ best effort.
Sebastian Vettel managed just eight laps in the Aston Martin AMR21 in the morning session due to a gearbox issue, but Lance Stroll got some decent mileage on the clock for the newly rebranded team, with him completing 70 laps and going third quickest.
Lando Norris continued McLaren’s strong form in pre-season testing, with him going fourth fastest, while Antonio Gionazzi and Charles Leclerc ended up fifth and sixth, respectively.
Nicholas Latifi, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, and Fernando Alonso round out the top ten.
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